Suspense Sundays (173) The Name of the Beast

Suspense was a radio series from 1942 to 1962.  I have a fondness for "Old Time Radio" as we call it now, and Suspense is my favorite show.  It sets up weird, dark, scary, or intriguing stories with a plot twist in the end, and all in half an hour.  For Suspense Sundays I'll give a short review of an episode.

"The Name of the Beast"

Air date: April 11, 1946
Starring Vincent Price

>>Episodes here<<

James Dorrance is an artist who is keen to further his art.  He goes to a seedy bar and gets a model for his latest work.  The man sits for Dorrance, and then goes back home, with a promise to return again the next day to continue.  When he doesn't show up, Dorrance hunts him down and discovers that Elmer has committed a murder and is holed up in his apartment.  Dorrance is happy to help him get away with it, if he continues to sit for him.  Because Dorrance sees this as a great opportunity to paint something he's always wanted to capture on canvas - evil.

What I synopsized in the first paragraph is just a small tidbit of where this episode goes.  I already know I've come across a good Suspense episode when Vincent Price is starring (love him!), but this story takes some really weird and unexpected turns.  The artist is already off his rocker for wanting to paint a murderer - to the extent that he is willing to help him get away with it, and then Elmer is a piece of work himself.  But the big twist in the story revolves around someone else!  This was a very twisted story, with an ironic, and tragic twist.  It seems that Dorrance doesn't recognize evil when he sees it.